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Book Reviews and Writing Tips

Sunday, July 28, 2013

As I told everyone before, I am terrible about emailing
myself links because I find something interesting that I want to read in more
depth later and simply don’t have the time to check into it right away.I am also terrible about bookmarking things
and need to clean out my favorite’s box.I have my limit of 2500 bookmarks there.Naturally, many of those are writing and publishing links.I’m sure I have some duplicates as well as
some very old pages that no longer work.

The reason I’m posting this is because I wanted to share a
FREE program for getting rid of broken links and duplicates in your favorites
list.I’m sure I’m not the only
compulsive person here that is compelled to save things.

I am quite a fan of the digital whiz, Kim Komando.This link came from her site and is trusted
and tested by her to be virus and malware free.If you use McAfee virus protection on your computer, you may see a
message that says this software contains a malicious code, but she has checked
it and it’s safe.

This program works with every major browser including
Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.The name of the program is AM-Deadlink.To download, click the gray button or the mirror.It downloads quickly and you’ll be able to
select your browser from the drop-down menu.Click the green check mark to detect dead or broken links.

You can select bookmarks and delete them using the redX
button.There is also a button for
detecting duplicates.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

We’re talking about the middle of your story when things can
lose momentum.Most of us find the
beginning and climax easier to write than the middle, which is subject to
becoming the sagging part of your story, perhaps leaving readers as bored as
you are with writing it.The good news is
there is a cure.

If you’re like me, you write by the ‘seat of your pants’
letting things come to you as the story unfolds.I usually never make an outline until right
before I get near the end of my WIP.This is probably not a good practice as I’ve discovered recently with my
first mystery novel.With mystery there
is too much to keep track of.

I had to go back and make an outline of events so that I
account for everything in the end.I never
have to do this with fantasy, which is usually what I write.Now I’m wondering if it needs more action as
well, so I started researching some issues to think about.Naturally, I want this to be an entertaining
read and not boring.Who doesn’t?

I found that one of the ways to avoid a sagging middle is to
have your protagonist change his original plan and move in a different
direction even if it’s against his will, but he has to meet the added challenge
in addition to what he set out to do in the beginning.This is one way to add another dimension to
the story and keep the reader reading and away to take care of the sagging
middle issue.

There has to be an increase in tension as the story moves
along toward the end.Unexpected
obstacles or making things more complicated will keep the middle from sagging.It is important to leave the reader with a
greater concern as to what will happen next as the story moves along.Of course, this all makes sense, but
sometimes is harder to achieve than it sounds.

In my research, I came across the idea that cause and effect
is something to keep in mind.When you
think about how it all has to link together in the end, this cause and effect
makes sense.We can accomplish this by
keeping each event linked to the one before it and to the one after it.

It’s best to bear in mind the basic elements of a story:

Inciting incident

A complication

A crisis

A resolution

One of my writer’s reference books tells me to keep the
eight basic elements of plot in mind and to ask some questions of my
characters.

What does the protagonist hope to achieve?

What will happen if the protagonist fails?

What must happen for the protagonist to win?

During the course of the story, if we want an exciting end, it’s good to
show that the consequences are getting closer for the protagonist as the story
moves along.

It is important not to let the characters or readers lose sight of the goal or consequences. As I to some rewrites on my story, I'm trying o keep all this in mind hoping to come out with an exciting finished product.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

My friend, Heather Whipp, has a new novella just published.I’m posting a description of my her book here
for any of you who want to check it out.This is a short read of approximately 12,870 words.

What Next by Heather Whipp

Synopsis:

Born and raised
by an unashamed flirt of a mother, who, as a flamboyant pole dancer and attracts
men like bees to a honey pot, a young girl finds a satisfying way to occupy her
day. She records the zany and earthy
lifestyle found in an isolated, country community, which time and progress
appear to have left behind.

As Bonnie grows
older, she begins to query the number of strange and fascinating people in her
world. Her naïve comments and her
misinterpretations of saucy events ensures mischief and mayhem are left in her
wake.

Bonnie believes
she has inherited her inquisitiveness from her sharp-eyed Grandma Molly, who is
the matriarch of gossip peddlers in the community.

As would be
natural with someone young and uninitiated into worldly matters, Bonnie Long
receives many inappropriate responses when she asks the wrong people the wrong
questions at the wrong time – like one as simple as, “What are you doing?”

Adult-content rating: This book contains content
considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be
offensive to some readers of all ages

You may purchase this story, or download a short sample on
the provided link.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I posted this question to a couple
of the groups here on Linked In, but I would be curious to know what you guys
think.

I usually write fantasy fiction
novels and have three on Amazon.I
decided to try something new, so I’m writing my first mystery novel, which I’m almost
finished with.I'm thinking about using
a pseudonym for this book. I'd like to
have some input from anyone who wants to comment.Are there any pros and cons to doing this or
should an author stay with their brand? I
would love to hear your comments on his subject.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

I recently discovered Chris Andrews’ blog, thanks to a guest
post by Vashti Quiroz Vega on 11 July 2013.He has some excellent advice about novel writing posted.I thought this might be worth mentioning
since I have posted many good writing information links lately.

You’ll
find info here on copyrights, agents, self-publishing, vanity presses,
anthologies, services for writers and contests.This site is a resource for literary scams.It’s a good idea to read the info here and
bookmark this sit for future reference.It
may save you money and lots of frustration before diving into something that
sounds great.I think all writers should
surf around this site.You can learn
much before jumping into unknown territory. There is so much to read on this site, it’ll
keep you busy for weeks.

Again, there are lots of categories for writers to explore
from contest to software to publishers and everything else writing
related.There is also a warnings
section here for writers where you’ll find general rules for spotting scams in
the literary world.At the bottom, on
the warnings page, is also a section for URL’s with broken links, sites that
contain viruses, or link you to pornography.

It is worth looking up publishers on this site to find out
if they are a place that you want to do business with before you make any
decisions about your book.

This one will also take you a couple of weeks to go through,
if you read all it has to offer.Be sure
to bookmark for future reference.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

It’s been a while since I wrote a post on book
publishing.I know many of you are
interested in this.I follow Lorraine
Reguly’s Life blog here:http://www.wordingwell.com,
which is where I found this link with wonderful information on e-book
publishing.

There are so many links on this blog that it will keep you
busy for days reading all of this info that covers getting started, sales,
marketing, and promotion, as well as creating and formatting e-books.There are links for tools you can utilize in
your project and a list of e-book sellers, distributors and service.

Jane Friedman has even included a list of authors who blog
about e-book publishing.At the bottom,
you will find links to get the current news and trends in e-book
publishing.I think this gal has covered
it all, updating this information as she gets it.News always changes fast in the publishing
world.

I encourage all of you to check this out.Jane Freidman is web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review and the former
publisher of Writer’s Digest.You will
find her full credentials on her blog, which includes free advice for writers.

I have written this post because I probably have different
followers that haven’t run across this information yet.It may be helpful to some of you who are
thinking of going this route for your books.If you'd write to read my previous post from 6-27-2012, you can find it here:http://sunni-faeriebookloft.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

I read an article recently about the losses they are
suffering in today’s marketplace.The
bookseller is looking at a grim future.Total revenue has fallen 10 % when comparing to last years sales
figures, which they attribute to store closings and declining Nook sales.

The company has decided to abandon the color Nook idea,
keeping only the black and white version and farming that out for
production.Despite high hopes for the
readers, they haven’t been able to keep up with Amazon and the Kindle reader in
sales.

Barnes and Noble will keep the paper book division, despite
the thought by some that they are going the way of Borders, believing the
biggest majority of future sales are in ebooks.

Who is to say?As a
reader, I’d rather read a regular old-fashioned book, but I know with space
requirements the ebooks are becoming increasingly popular.One thing good about a paper book, besides
the smell of good old paper and sitting back in your easy chair, is that a regular
book won’t break if you drop it and it never needs to be charged.This is a big plus in my mind.

If they close the B and N here, it would be a terrible thing
because we only have a couple of ‘mom and pop’ tiny bookstores that are still
in business, but they have no selection, nor will they order anything if they
don’t have it.I guess time will tell
what happens here and if Barnes and Noble will have a future.

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Welcome to my Ramblings

I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts about writing and publishing. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. I'd like to hear about your writing and publishing experiences.